Ciutat Vella - Barcelona, Spain 

After a very, very long research I decided to choose this hotel for our 5 day trip in Barcelona, and I am very happy that I did so. Hotel Ciutat Vella is a new hotel, situated very close to placa catalunya, on the border between Raval and L'eixample- perfect. In spite of the central location, it's situated in a narrow, beautiful street- and yes, a quiet one! Our room faced the street, and we had a nice little balcony that allowed us to sit and enjoy the liveliness of the street when we wanted to, and to sleep quietly once we shut the doors. The Universitat Metro station was exactly 1 minute walk from the hotel, and it was extremely comfortable. buy the T10 ticket at the ticket machine! The room was not big but just big enough, with a desk, daily room cleaning service, TV, closet, reading lamps, a balcony, a safe and a bath. one afternoon we discovered that our key (which is a card) stopped working and that anyone could enter our room easily just by opening the door. The man at the reception was extremely helpful and fixed the problem immediately. There's a jacuzzi at the top floor, with a nice view- it was fun even though the water was lukewarm! There's free internet access at the computer at the lobby, complimentary water, coffee and sometimes a pastry too! we didn't have breakfast at the hotel since there were so many appealing - and cheaper- options at the streets. This is a new and comfortable hotel not yet discovered by the masses.

Overall I would recommend this hotel. The positives: * Good location - only a couple of minutes walk to Plaza Catalunya, La Rambla, and also to the Museum of Contemporary Art * Very clean room with both a bath and shower (you'll be glad of a soak in the bath after walking all day around the city!) * Lovely roof terrace with views over the city and a hot tub * Free internet access * Staff were very helpful and will store luggage until it is time to check in * Free bottled water at reception The negatives: * The rooms are quite small * The hotel can be rather noisy at night due to British hen / stag party guests slamming doors and shouting when they stagger back from the bars / clubs. * I had a room with a window that opened onto an internal atrium so no fresh air which I was disappointed about as I prefer fresh air to a/c.